Eyebrow Threading

Disclaimer: If you have never attempted to wax or sugar your legs before and have no idea how to do it then don’t try this at home.

The mistake most people make when waxing or sugaring at home is trying to mimic the professional salon wax technique. Here is a straightforward way to sugar your legs without ending up in a mess (not too much anyway!)

You will need
Sugar paste (see below for recipe, or buy from a beauty supplier)
One strip of tough cotton, such as denim, roughly 15cm square
Talc
Large, old towel
Olive oil or shea butter

Sugar recipe: 1 cup of sugar to 1/3 cup of water, heat until a golden syrupy colour. Add a squirt of lemon just after taking off the heat and allow to cool. If you are in a cold country then increase the amount of water to 1/2 cup.

Preparation (IMPORTANT!!!!)
For dry areas of the legs such as the knees, ankles and toes, apply the olive oil or shea butter to ‘fill in’ any cracks in the skin. Wipe off the area with the towel so that there is no excess on the skin. Now sprinkle and smooth a layer of talc on your leg (do one area at a time, such as front of one leg, side of one let etc). Keep the talc nearby so that you can keep adding it as and when necessary. Take an eggsized amount of the sugar paste (it may be very hard, but squish it a couple of times to soften it. Don’t heat it up.). Spread the paste on the centre of the cotton square so that you have a flattened patch about 2cm thick.

How to remove hairs
Little by little is the key here! You’ll get done much faster than if you try and do massive amounts all at once. On the prepared area hold the skin taut and press the cotton patch down and IMPORTANT smooth with your flat fingers or heel of your palm in either a down or up direction (doesn’t matter which one). Do this at least 4 times so that the hairs are completely sunk into the paste. Now KEEPING THE SKIN TAUT rip off the cotton as you normally would (as parallel as possible to the skin in the opposite direction of growth). Voila, you should now have a small hairless patch of skin! If not then either smooth the paste a bit more or a bit harder. Carry on doing the same, making sure to keep adding more talc to ensure there’s a layer on the skin and no sugar paste gets stuck. You can actually rip off the cotton in the same direction of growth for some areas, which is useful for those awkward areas. To do the backs of your legs try kneeling and twisting around to see them. Keep reusing the same bit of sugar stuck to the cotton, as it’s a thick layer that can do both your entire legs.

After sugaring simply discard the used sugar paste (can be put on a compost heap if you used 100% cotton) and do not add any lotion or moisturiser to the treated area for the rest of the day. Stay out of direct sunlight for 48 hours and do not go swimming, to the gym or any activity that might infect the skin before it heals.